Moulin Rouge arrives at IMAX for Valentine's Day

FILM-LOVERS can find romance at the bfi London IMAX Cinema this Valentine's
Day with special screenings of the award-winning musical extravaganza, Moulin
Rouge.

The Oscar-nominated film will be screened on Friday and Saturday, February
14 and 15, as part of the bfi's successful After Dark strand - which screens
classic films on the UK's largest screen.

A worldwide smash on its release in 2001, Moulin Rouge tells the story of
a poor but talented poet, played by Ewan McGregor, who is hired to write a
show at the scandalous home of the Can Can, and falls in love with the beautiful
Satine (Nicole Kidman).

Director Baz Luhrmann's breathtaking film is a mix of myth, musical, comedy
and romance, combining old-style Hollywood glamour with the contemporary sounds
of Madonna, Christina Aguilera and Nirvana.

Moulin Rouge (cert 15, 120 mins) is showing at 8.45pm on February 14 and 15
at the bfi London IMAX Cinema, Waterloo, SE1. Tickets are £7.10 and
can be booked by calling 020 7902 1234. The film is screened in a 35mm format
and is not an IMAX, large format or a 3D presentation. The film will only
occupy a portion of the full IMAX screen.

What we said...

IT'S ruffles, can-can girls and leg-garters at the ready as Australian
wunderkind Baz Luhrmann blazes back on the big screen with a heady tale of
love, lust and boozy bordellos.

Shifting from William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet to an 1899 Paris knocking-shop
in one foul swoop may seem ambitious, but Luhrmann not only dispels the notion
he's a one-hit-wonder, but also proves that finding the perfect foil to fittingly
express one's talent takes time, effort and the ability to learn from mistakes
and improve on successes.

Being a bit of a Bard purist, I for one was not wholly appreciative of
his efforts in channelling such a great work through the lips of Leonardo
Di Caprio by way of trashy mise-en-scene and zippy MTV-style direction.

True, it was innovative and his talent unquestionable; but still there
was a feeling among many that such a fresh and impudent style may be better
employed elsewhere. And how right that has been proved.

Freed from the shackles of such a restrictive work as Romeo & Juliet,
Luhrmann allows himself to run unbridled and creates a fantastical world populated
by spectacular dancing girls and drunken hedonism in which to weave his tale
of intrigue, love, deceit and betrayal... (Click here
for full review)